Ever Choose Chips Over Lunch?

Me too. Empty bag of Cheetos just got discarded. Hopefully I'm able to avoid the hungries long enough to have a sensible dinner. WhatWasIThinking.com?

Moving in the right direction again

Down a pound and a half this week. It's amazing how well I do when Mr. Shrinking T is not home to tempt me with non-diet foods. I worked out like crazy this week and I think that also contributed mightily to my success.

In other great news, my pants are starting to get loose. This is the first I'm seeing of results to my body and is definitely motivating me to keep going. While I don't think JC is a long term tool for me, it has definitely jumpstarted my progress.

Goals for this week:
1) 2 days weight lifting
2) 3 days cardio
3) try one new video (candlelight yoga anyone?)
4) try one new recipe

Stupid Female Parts

No up or down this week. I think that might be progress since it's usually a gain but still. . . . My stupid female parts make everything difficult. If it isn't the swelling, it's the doctors' recommendation to not exercise. I hate feeling like a slug.

Anyway, I'm finally starting to feel like a human being again. I jogged a little yesterday and that definitely helped. Tonight I will do some weight lifting and be really sore tomorrow. Slugs are hereby banished!

New Fitness Goal Achieved

I jogged a full lap . . . that's a quarter of a mile. I did it 4 times last night on my treadmill very slowly. But I did it. I haven't done that since I played soccer regularly some 20 years ago. Mr. Shrinking T has been bugging me to just "jog a lap then walk a lap" forever and I've never been able to do it. Thank God for VS for playing "The Replacements" and for the brilliance of Albuterol. I got off the treadmill last night with the confidence that I might be able to jog a 5k at some point. Amazing. I was starving after but it was well worth it.

Trying Jenny this time

Mr. Shrinking T was the motivator here.  He wanted to try something easier . . . something where he didn't need to think so hard about what to eat.  I have to say, I'm really impressed with Jenny Craig so far.  With my work schedule, it's so much easier to have someone else do the planning for me.  I'm slightly freaked out about not learning how to do this on my own but I've lost 9 lbs since I started the program the last week of October.  It's actually gotten me to start working out a little more regularly.  My consultant calls me on Sundays to talk about my week.  I like the one on one conversations but, with the exception of a little nugget of wisdom about discipline (I wasn't giving myself enough credit), I'm not getting a lot out of our conversations.  She isn't giving me much in the way of tips or guidance on balanced living.  Still, all in all, anything that gets me to A) shed some pounds and B) start working out again is a good thing.  My energy level is way better because I'm eating throughout the day.  Mr. ST hasn't been committed and so I'm frustrated with him.  I'm trying not to nag but it's taking every ounce of self control. If I let it go and have some results, maybe he'll start to try again.

This new way of eating makes me wonder if it might just be good to do batch cooking so that we could have very easy meals in very little time.  Researching that this week.

Also, I've hit a good rhythm with working out.  Found this great "full body" work out on weightwatchers.com which kind of kicked my ass on Saturday.  I'm alternating days w/ cardio.  I've been pushing the intervals a little on the treadmill and have actually been able to get up to 3 minutes of jogging w/ 1 1/2 - 2 minutes of fast walking.  I've noticed my mood is much better and, if I'm careful about stretching, I'm not overly sore.  This week my goal is to do at least 2 days of weight lifting (go Mr. ST for having a home gym set up!) and 3 days of cardio.

Light Beer + Camping = Success at the Scale

Who knew that I could get a buzz on, eat cheetos and gummy bears and still lose 3.6 pounds?  Not me!  I mean, I had hoped that the couple hours I spent hiking and shooting would lead to some loss but I never would have expected that!  And, while it was a little scary to challenge my anemia dizzies, it was well worth it.

Tips for people going on vacation:
1) Try a side of carrots instead of chips with your meal
2) Light beer is just as fun to drink as the more calorie-rich kind in the cooler
3) Have some fruit instead of the candy
4) Go for a little walk

I'm not going to discuss the goals from last week.  I still haven't made progress so I need to reassess this week while going for the goal my WW leader gave me:

FRUIT AND VEGGIE CHALLENGE:
At every meal, fill half your plate with fruits or veggies.
(The goal is to get to the USDA's recommended daily value of 5 fruits and/or veggies a day.)

Let's Try this Again

I'm trying not to make excuses for myself.  After all, it was me who decided on Fried Chicken on Friday night.  Still. . . . with the health stuff going on last week, I'm giving myself a break.  Up a little, still down overall. 

Also, it's time to revisit those goals for the week:
1) Food: Write down everything I ingest
Better this week but still not great.  Goal for this week is to actually do this.
2) Movement: 20 minutes of walking 3 days + Ab work or Yoga or Pilates 2 days
Big fat goose egg on this goal.  With the camping trip this weekend, I think the 20 min of walking 3 days is doable.  That's my goal for this week.
3) Health: Research nutrition expert
Got a couple of names from my chiropractor and another idea from a friend.  No substantial progress made.  Goal for this week: call one of the leads

Poached Eggs - Why Have I Avoided Thee?

Let me preface this entry by saying that I grew up in a household of extremely capable cooks.  One might even say "gourmet" but in a very Paula Dean way.  You know . . . lots of butter and bacon?  Right.  Somehow the cooking thing sort of skipped me.  Don't get me wrong, when I put my mind and energy to it, I cook very well.  As an accomplished eater, I do have an idea of what things should look and taste and smell like when everything is going well on the stove.  But I digress.  My parents love kitchen gadgets almost as much as I do.  So, when poaching eggs, they had an insert to be placed on top of boiling water.  It makes beautiful perfectly poached eggs especially tasty because my mom would put a little butter in the gadget to ensure they didn't stick.  Imagine my surprise when, a couple of years ago, I found out you can poach eggs in water . . . WITHOUT A GADGET.  I know, amazing right?  I did mention that I'm not a terribly accomplished cook right?  Well I'll just say simply that, while I knew about the traditional egg poaching technique in theory, I was never able to eat one of my doing.  Until today.  Thanks to WW Online Cooking Class on Poaching Eggs I just had an amazing breakfast and discovered that the taste of a traditionally poached egg is better than the insert version!  My egg was sooooo beautiful!  I wish I had taken a picture of its perfect little formed self.  It's rich and a little earthy and, when paired with roasted tomatoes, a little pepper jack cheese and an English muffin, the perfect way to have a lower-calorie decadent breakfast!  I'll admit I was hungry.  I will also admit that I'm really proud that I learned how to poach an egg.

Down 1.8!

Love going to WW meetings and actually ending up on the negative side of the spectrum.  I cannot believe I let myself get this out of control even if I was changing jobs and moving my entire life to So Cal.  I'm extremely grateful that my boss said something to me that made me think "what the hell are you doing to yourself".  Add to that the scary health news (severely anemic on top of everything else) . . .  I am finally back to that place I was before.  I'm 35 years old.  If I'm having these health problems now, what is another 20 years of this extra weight going to do?  Type 2 diabetes?  Heart attack?  Stroke?  No thank you!  New town, new commitment.

 

Goals for this week:

• Food: Write down everything I ingest
• Movement: 20 minutes of walking 3 days + Ab work or Yoga or Pilates 2 days
• Health: Research nutrition expert

Regression

Apparently moving and changing jobs makes me eat.

Starting fresh. . . .

New Concept for Me

Maybe I have been living in a hole for a couple of years but WHO KNEW there were so many resources on physical well being as it relates to spirituality.  This weekend I attended a service at a religious science center.  While my personal belief system leans toward the "New Age" I have never before attended a "celebration" like this.  I really enjoyed the logical approach to spirituality so I did a little more research.  It looks like one of their points of practice is health and excercise.  "Tending to the needs of our physical and emotional body is tantamount to our spiritual growth and development."  Now that I think about it, I must be pretty slow.  Every weight loss guru says that one must figure out the emotional reason for being overweight . . . shouldn't that translate to spiritual well being?  Dur.  I just got that.  Anyway, I did a little search for books on "spiritual weight loss" . . . I cannot believe how many there are.  As I am new to this concept of weight loss via prayer/spirituality, I don't have any recommendations yet.  If I find one I love, I will let you know.

Recipe Audition - Rosemary Chicken

Thanks to Glorious One Pot Meals, I had a really easy and healthful meal last night.  The green beans came out crispy, the potatoes tender, the acorn squash not-mushy.  I was a little ambitious with the rosemary and would proabably add Garlic Salt instead of regular salt next time.  But at 339 cal, 3 g fat and 8 g fiber?  Totally worth it.  Plus, my 3 quart dutch oven made enough food for me and Mr. ShrinkingT with enough leftover for one large (veggie heavy) meal.  He said he liked it but didn't go for seconds.  Still success.

I was really impressed with Yarnell's story.  The way she has used nutritional healing is admirable and her attitude is worth emulating.


Plus, it's really fun to see how uncomfortable the hosts are cooking!

Gain Some and Lose Some

Truth is this week is more like "Gain Some and Gain Some".  Granted it was the last week of the year and I alternated my time between sleeping, eating, watching TV and drinking . . . drinking A LOT.  I'm giving myself a little break here and deciding to focus on some of the other things I've gained, namely insight.

Things I've figured out this week:

1. At that point where I get close to a breakthrough and really improve myself; at that certain point in every self-improvement journey I have taken, I have quit.  I believe that I am, somehow, not worth it.  Logically I know this is ridiculous but emotionally I haven't caught up yet.  And, if I take that one step further, I can say that the reason I am overweight is that I don't believe myself to be worth the effort of treating my body well.
2. I have decided to lose weight for two reasons.  The first is that the healthiest I have been in 10 years was 5 years ago, directly following a 25 pound weight loss.  I don't believe in coincidence.  I know I need to do this to get my health (and sanity) back.  The second is that I am pretty tired of always thinking of myself as the fat one.  It's a constant thing.  Walking to lunch today with my friend I thought "I wonder if people are looking at how much bigger I am than she is".  If my friend told me that I would smack her silly because NOBODY has time to think about other people like that.  And, if they did . . . I wouldn't want to be their friend!  Ridiculous!
3. If I look at numbers 1 and 2 above, it follows logically that I have been unsuccessful in maintaining my weight loss because I sabotage myself.  If I believe that I am not worth the work and if I think that nobody else believes I am good enough as I am, then I can conclude that I am acting in ways that contradict my ultimate goal.  It makes logical sense that it is easier for me to be overweight and unhappy than to be proven wrong in my deep-seeded beliefs.  Emotionally I think it's because I lack follow through.  But, if I'm ever going to GAIN follow through, I need to get going.  Further (and in some ways more importantly) I need to get over my fear of failure.  Not trying to live a better life is cowardice.

Big stuff this week.  Tomorrow I'm going to try a new recipe from a book I saw on WeightWatchers.com.  If it turns out and if Mr. ShrinkingT likes it, I will let you know.

First Book for T.I.S.T.

The Best Life Diet by Bob Greene

As with all lifestyle makeovers, this book is a step by step guide to making permanent changes to an unhealthy life.  What I love is that Bob Greene asks the reader to ease into the changes instead of going cold turkey.  I mean, I love cold turkey as much as the next person (especially in the form of Thanksgiving leftovers) but when authors tell me to cut down my calories and start doing a minimum of 45 minutes of cardio to start, I take issue.  So I was particularly pleased when I read the phase one section of this makeover plan and saw that I'm only really supposed to be trying to eat 3 meals a day, bumping up my exercise up one notch and eliminating alcohol (eeek).  But that wasn't the best part!  Every author emphasizes the importance of goal setting.  However, Greene takes this idea to a new level by asking me to really think about what I want and why I want it.  Before making any major changes, he asks the reader to be a little introspective by answering the following questions:

1. Why are you overweight?
2. Why do you want to lose weight?
3. Why have you been unable to maintain weight loss in the past?
   

Um, that's a lot to think about.  So, my goal for this week is to be a little introspective and answer those questions.  And, while I think about it, I am going to keep on reading this book cuz Bob is kind of getting me pumped up.

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